


Nightfall

by iamhighondumbbitchjuice



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A L O T OF ADVENTURE, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Basically Pirates of the Caribbean in a different setting and universe, Draco Malfoy is a pirate captain, Drarry, Harry Potter is still tHe ChOsEn OnE, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I just felt like writing about pirates all of the sudden, I promise im not insane, M/M, Pirates, Quests, one hell of a fic, one hell of a plot as well, well maybe im slightly insane
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:40:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24423667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamhighondumbbitchjuice/pseuds/iamhighondumbbitchjuice
Summary: Harry Potter is one of the only people in the world with powers and everyone knows it: lightning following him everywhere he goes, as he is coveted by good and bad men alike.Draco Malfoy is one of the most feared and respected pirates sailing the mediterranean, looking to utterly destroy his archenemy: the only other person apart from Harry to have powers, the man who goes by the name of Riddle, the man who kills who he pleases and is feared by every criminal and citizen alike.It just so happens that Draco needs Harry to defeat Riddle.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 25
Kudos: 47





	1. Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> _Don't be intimidated by the stars  
>  they’re just as afraid of falling  
> as we are._
> 
> Posting this is a bit of a test: if the first few chapters do okay I'll definitely continue posting this hehe, I'm just a bit unsure as to if people will like this seeing that this idea might be a bit unusual??

It was only when a man’s wide eyes got stuck on Harry’s arm, that Harry noticed that his sleeve was the tiniest bit rolled upward, revealing something that he had purposely hidden. Revealing something that betrayed him and everything that he was capable of. 

A fraction of his scars was out in the open, the wind touching his skin freely for a split second before Harry hurriedly rolled his sleeve back down. 

It was far too late though.

The man had already seen it. 

“Oi!” The man yelled from across the packed square, breaking their tension filled stare.

Harry had already turned around and started running, passing dozens of people who all shrieked in surprise as he bolted past them. The streets were so packed that it was hard for Harry to keep going, but he _had_ to. He couldn’t be trapped _again_. Not now. He didn’t have to look around to know that the man was following him close behind, pushing aside the same people that Harry had pushed just moments before. 

They ran through streets upon streets, and even though Harry’s breath had started wearing thin and shallow, he couldn’t allow himself to stop. Adrenaline ran through him driving him to keep pushing harder. Panicked and alert he stopped focusing on finding the most clever paths and roads to get rid of the man panting behind him, instead Harry was now focussed on just keeping his speed up. He never stopped for anyone, not even when men riding carriages swore at him and cursed. 

Harry was so busy running _away_ that he didn’t pay attention to _where_ he was going. 

His legs moved automatically, jumping over obstacles and running through crowded pathways. 

Until…

The sea was suddenly _very_ close. 

“Shit,” Harry breathed, as he came to a screeching halt, realizing that he had run straight to the docks. 

He turned his head around with one sharp movement and saw that he _still_ hadn’t lost the man, so, Harry picked up his speed again and took a left, running along the seaside, his feet hitting the paved road harshly. A small voice in his head reminded him that the docks would stop at some point, it wouldn’t lead him anywhere, it was a dead end, but Harry didn’t listen, desperate to get away. 

When Harry _did_ reach the end of the hardened road though, he realized that he really _should’ve_ listened to the small voice in his head, because now he was completely and utterly trapped. On his left side there was a tall house and on his right and straight ahead was just the endless sea. 

Well endless sea except… 

There was a ship with its gangway out in the open, ready to be walked on, ready for people to enter the ship. 

Without a second thought Harry bolted over the gangway straight onto the main deck of the large ship, he ran without thinking pulling open door after door and running down stairs until he couldn’t anymore, desperate to get away from the man who was trying to trap him. 

He eventually crawled behind a barrel and froze, fearing for his life, as he had done for practically his whole life. 

When after what Harry could only presume were several minutes nothing happened, he let out a sigh of relief and finally allowed himself to look at his new surroundings. It was dark, the little light that _was_ there, coming from above, seeping through the wooden planks that separated two floors of the ship. In the space Harry was in, he could see barrels, just like the one he’d hidden behind, stacked up against each other, all on their sides to be balanced. 

It might not have been Harry’s most clever moment: running onto a ship, but he had already decided that he would hide here until he could be sure that the man really _had_ left and wasn’t waiting for him to come out. He would leave soon, just a few more minutes. 

“Who in the name of everything wicked left the gangway unfolded?!” A voice laced in a thick posh British accent sounded from above, immediately waking Harry’s fear once again. 

“Sorry Captain that was probably me,” another voice said, both of their voices were unnaturally loud. 

“You know what?” the first voice gritted out. “It’s fine Weasel. Blaise! Can we start setting sail?! The boy’s not here, it’s no use to keep looking.”

“Of course Captain!”

“Loony, can you go downstairs? We need some extra rope for Neville,” the first voice asked, even though it seemed like less of a request and more of a command. 

Then Harry suddenly came to the realization that this ‘Loony’ person was coming downstairs, but surely they weren't coming here, were they? There were only barrels here, no rope right? He couldn’t be found, not now. Not now that he’d just escaped the claws of yet another foe. He looked around frantically, hoping that his eyes would not find the frayed image of rope. 

At first glance he couldn’t see any, but upon a closer look he saw that rope was indeed stacked in a pile in one of the even darker corners of the ship. 

Harry wanted to scream out in frustration. 

He was so utterly fucked. 

He heard the dreaded sound of someone coming down the stairs and with every light step Harry’s heart seemed to leap, trying to run away from his chest. 

The door to the space that Harry was in was softly pushed open, light from upstairs blinding Harry slightly as he saw the silhouette of a long haired woman stepping into the room. She calmly walked past him, not even seeing the barrel he was hiding behind, and grabbed the rope in the corner, cutting a piece of it off with one sharp pull of a knife.

“You can come out you know,” she said, her voice airy and light. “There’s no need to be afraid.” She didn’t look at him, keeping her focus on the rope. 

When Harry didn’t answer, she _did_ turn towards his barrel, and in the dark he could see her gentle smile. 

“You can also stay hidden there if you want. I myself always fancy some hide and seek.” She walked towards him, her feet barely touching the ground, and crouched in front of the barrel. “You’re quite the special one, aren’t you? My name is Luna by the way, even though everyone aboard this ship calls me Loony.” A small smile graced her lips at the mention of her nickname. “What’s yours?”

She made no intention to move when Harry didn’t answer yet again, instead she remained in front of the barrel, patiently waiting. 

“I don’t have one,” Harry eventually lied in a small voice. Names were precious and he wasn’t ready to give away his just yet. 

A wide smile spread on Luna’s lips. “Oh! Let me name you then! Please?!” She didn’t seem surprised that there was an intruder on her ship at all, instead simply smiling excitedly. 

Harry kept very still, not moving and not knowing what to answer to that question. 

Suddenly a pale finger moved to set aside the barrel and all Harry could do was sit there, frozen, exposed. He now had a full view of the woman in front of him: blonde hair shimmering in the dim light, her eyes shining in a curious silvery grey, her smile broad and her clothes circling in loose ruffles around her. 

“Hi there! Like I said, you don’t need to be afraid… ,” she trailed of, seemingly thinking about something. “You don’t need to be afraid Em.” she smiled while saying the last word. 

When Harry frowned, Luna seemed to take notice. “Get it? Em? Short for Emerald? Because your eyes are the colour of emerald?”

Em… apparently it was his new name. 

“Loony where are you?! We need the rope now, the storm is setting in!” Another voice from the main deck echoed through the vessel. 

Luna didn’t answer, instead she looked at Harry with a strange glint to her eyes. “Can you please come up with me? I mean I do really like to play hide and seek, but I can’t leave you here.” 

Harry couldn’t move, his body refused to, he was frozen to the spot, too scared to move a single muscle. 

Luna’s smile looked sad now. “I promise I won’t hurt you, you have my word Em,” she said softly while extending a pale hand out to him for him to take. 

Harry looked down at the hand with wide eyes, not sure what to do. 

“Please,” Luna added after a while of silence. 

Harry lightly took her hand and she pulled him upwards, supporting him when his muscles still refused to move. Luna had the rope in her other hand, but her knife was now tucked away in her belt. She was using the hand she had used for wielding the knife to hold Harry up, until his legs regained their ability to move. 

“Come on, I’ll lead the way,” she said surprisingly cheerfully. 

Luna guided Harry up the stairs, his eyes still wide from shock. It was only when he reached the top of the stairs that he noticed that the ship had long been set into movement, swaying on the endless Mediterranean sea. 

Shit.

Luna opened the door to the main deck with one soft push, smiling at Harry as she did so. 

"Ah Loony, finally, give the rope to--" A dark boy had been talking but stopped mid-sentence when he saw Harry, his eyes growing wide from surprise. 

Luna, however, seemed unaffected as she moved to give the rope to a tall man, who immediately after he'd received the rope began climbing up towards the crow's nest that was seated on top of the main mast. 

As Harry looked at where the tall man had disappeared, he saw that the skies had grown dark, despite it being afternoon.

A storm was on its way.

Harry smiled. Of course it was, he must’ve summoned it when he was afraid.

"Captain!" the dark boy yelled, his gaze still pinned to Harry. "You might wanna see this!"

"Blaise, I swear to the heavens, I will gut you if--" The lanky blonde haired man, that had answered this Blaise person, also stopped mid-sentence as he saw Harry standing there, frozen to the spot. 

Harry recognized the voice that had spoken, it was the first voice he had heard on the ship, and apparently it was the voice of the ship's Captain. 

Venom laced the captain's voice when he spoke again, pointing a dagger, Harry hadn't even seen him pull out. "Who are you and what are you doing here?!"

Before Harry had time to answer, Luna answered for him, returning to Harry's side. "Oh him? That's just Em, he's with me."

The captain looked at Luna as if she was properly insane. He and Luna seemed to be in a staring contest, talking with each other through their eyes in some way, until the captain seemed to give up, tiredly rubbing his eyelids with his fingertips. "Fine keep your street rat Loony, but don't come running to me if he can't survive the sea." Anger flared in Harry's chest as the captain spoke the words so disinterestedly. No one should treat death so indifferently. Before Harry could recoil, though, the Captain spoke up again. "I don't have time for this, we have a storm to challenge. I want all hands on deck!" the captain yelled the last sentence, making it clear that he was addressing the whole crew.

Luna winked at Harry. "Don't mind him Em, he's just a bit stressed right now," she added before leaving him behind and helping others to prepare for the storm to come. 

The tall boy in the crow's nest yelled something inaudible to Harry's ears, but understood by the panicked crew as the first lightning bolt hit the ocean not too far away. 

Harry could feel the familiar lighting seep into his skin as he welcomed the storm. He smiled when he recognized the storm beckoning him, knowing that they'd met many times before. 

_Hi,_ Harry told the lightning. 

And the storm answered, rumbling in the sky ready for Harry to use.

 _Welcome back,_ Harry told the lightning.

He couldn't help but grin as the storm created another lightning bolt that hit even closer to the ship, eager to reach Harry. 

The crew around him didn't seem to notice Harry's conversation with the storm as they ran around. 

The places where the lighting hit the waves kept coming closer to the ship, trying to reach their target. 

"Why does it look like it's aiming for us?!" the dark man, that the Captain had called Blaise, cried out.

The question went unanswered, the thundering of the storm easily overpowering the meak sound of Blaise's voice. 

Harry could feel it before the lightning reached for him, the buzz in his ears, the sheer exhilaration pumping through his veins. 

_Come home._

And that the lightning did. 

One of its bolts reached for Harry, stopping at his fingertips as if saying, _'Accept me.'_ Harry would always accept, letting the bolt run through his veins and letting it curl around his body in twists and turns, careful to avoid shredding his clothing, gentle and oh so powerful. Infinite power as far as Harry could feel, his eyesight growing white, a sign that his eyes had taken on the same colour. 

It was beautiful and heart wrenching at the same time, as the lightning seemed to mourn with Harry about all the things they'd been forced to do with that power.

The world around Harry had grown very quiet apart from the buzz in his ears, but he was used to it, it was home, the only real home he would always have.

 _I’ll be fine, goodbye_ , he told the lightning. Harry didn’t know if he’d be fine, he wasn’t sure of anything right now, but he _did_ know that, right now, the lightning couldn’t do anything to help.

The bolt slowly left his body and Harry imagined it sighing as it went, bidding Harry the best of luck and leaving him with the promise that it would always come as soon as Harry would beckon it. 

With one last regretful rumble the sky cleared up, leaving only blue and the sun shining brighter than before.

Harry grasped his aching forehead as the exhaustion that always came with meeting the lightning set in. Lightly he rubbed his eyelids, and smiled contently, momentarily forgetting that he was on a ship in the middle of an ocean with people that he didn't know, but who definitely _did_ know him. It was undeniable who he was now, seeing as there was only one of him in this world. 

When Harry did realize this though, he knew that he was probably in deep shit, yet again.

"Wow Em! That was magnificent!" Luna yelled, running towards him as fast as her light feet could carry her. She pulled at his arms and inspected him thoroughly. "It didn't even shred your clothes in the slightest."

Harry shied away from Luna's touch, remembering all too clearly what others had done to him after inspecting him like that.

"Oh Loony, would you please stop that, he's not a bloody toy you know," the Captain hissed at her, but even though his tone was sharp and sarcastic, his eyes looked different from when he'd seen Harry before, his eyes held a certain glint of wonder in them, while looking at Harry, as if seeing something that he’d never expected to see. "So," the captain continued, still looking straight at Harry. "Our Em turns out to be the one and only Potter, how fascinating." 

"Blaise," the Captain addressed the dark haired man yet again. "I believe it's time we set sail to Robards, don't you?"

Blaise grinned, his white teeth shining like a shark's when he'd just spotted his prey. "I was just about to say the same thing, Draco."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI thanks for reading !!! Omg I really hope people will even click on this AHH im so nervous about uploading this. 
> 
> If you _are_ one of the (probably) few who _have_ read this until the end of this chapter, THANK YOU I APPRECIATE IT SO FUCKING MUCH YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW.
> 
> Have a great day/night!  
> -Amber


	2. Stories of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Harry had finished his bowl of soup he kept looking at the sky, enjoying the warmth on his face, thoughts swirling around in his mind, creating a storm of emotions: he’d done and felt a lot today, too much for Harry to truly comprehend. 
> 
> One thing he _did_ know though: it all happened because of his stupid scars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI welcome back ! I'm going to continue this fic for a bit because i've planned and written ahead, I hope the people that actually enjoyed the last chapter (I appreciate you a LOT if you were one of them) also enjoy this one !

“Don’t worry Em, you’ll be safe here. this is the sea, no one can trap you here.” Luna glanced at the infinite turquoise waters that were stretching out below the horizon. “At sea everyone is free,” she added with a smile, her gaze distant. 

“Yet I am trapped on this ship aren’t I?” Harry asked, exhausted, he realised he was done, he didn’t want to go from one prison to the next, he would rather be eaten by sharks at this point. 

Luna didn’t answer, instead someone else spoke up, “First of all it’s not ‘this ship’, it’s the Amortentia, and second of all you can always just get off at the next harbour when we stop.”

Harry turned around at the sound of the voice and wasn’t surprised to see Blaise there, a grin taking up half of his face, teeth shimmering in the hot sun, and his sword hanging threateningly from his belt.

”Don’t know how much value you would attach to a pirate’s word, but you have my word that you can get off at the next stop,” the man said, the grin still plastered on his face. 

Pirate?

 _Pirate_ ?

Well shit, Harry had done a great job of running from one man into a nest of pirates. 

Of course he’d managed that of all things.

“Pirates?” 

Blaise chuckled. “Yes Potter, we’re pirates,” he said, still grinning. Blaise pointed at something above the main mast “Can’t you see the flag?” 

Harry looked up and indeed spotted the black flag waving in the wind: from such a distance he couldn’t see _what_ exactly was on the black piece of cloth, but it was clearly a pirate flag nonetheless. He cast his gaze down again and pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly, wondering when it was all going to simply stop.

“How do I know that you’ll let me go when we arrive at the next harbour?” Harry asked, trying to ignore the dread that was coiling in his stomach. 

Blaise shrugged. “You don’t, but look around, do you see many other options?”

Harry hated that he was right, he had nowhere to go until they would reach land again, he would have to wait, hoping that the pirates would keep to their word. 

“Okay so who wants to give our new mate a tour of the ship?!” Blaise yelled, waiting for an answer. 

Luna turned around slightly, smiling softly, but shook her head, indicating a no. 

“I can do it!” another voice answered, as a red haired man covered in freckles came running towards Blaise and Harry. From the corner of his eye Harry could see Luna’s smile grow wider, as if she’d accomplished something.

Blaise rolled his eyes. “Fine Weasel, go for it, don’t fall into the sea, please.” And with that Blaise turned around and walked back to the sterncastle deck. “Draco for the love of everything wicked, let me steer the damn ship, you steer like a maniac!”

“Hey,” the red haired guy said, distracting Harry’s attention from the spectacle of Blaise yelling. “My name’s Ron or Weasel, the opinions about my name are divided so t’is your pick.” Ron’s gaze scanned Harry. “And you’re Harry Potter!”

“Please just call me Harry.” Harry didn’t want people to call him by his full name, it made him feel icky, made him think about things he’d rather not think about.

Ron smiled. “Okay Harry, come along, we have a whole ship to show you.” 

The next hour was filled with Ron excitedly rambling about every part of the ship: showing Harry everything on board and talking with a fond tone to his voice about everyone that was present, laughing about the crazy adventures they’d been through. 

“So, anyway Blaise was standing there literally holding a candle, the hot wax dripping on his fingers, and I kid you not, he passed the burning candle to Neville as if it was a bomb, and Neville gave the candle to Eduardo, and so a chain reaction suddenly formed, everyone passing the damn candle to each other, until Loony eventually caught it and calmly walked to the main deck to throw it in the sea while her hands were burning. She had burns for weeks after that.” 

Harry smiled slightly at Ron’s rambling, the guy didn’t seem so bad, certainly not what Harry had expected pirates to be like. 

“What about him?” Harry asked, indicating the blonde haired Captain, he had barely been in any of Ron’s funny adventure stories. The captain was currently standing next to Blaise, his hair shining in the sunlight and a frown gracing his features. 

“Oh that? That’s just the Captain; Draco Malfoy, he can be a real pain in the arse, and either has one of two moods: grumpy or slightly less grumpy. You probably would do best avoiding him, he can be kind of scary.” Even though Ron spoke about the captain in a negative way, Ron's tone was still somewhat admiring, his eyes looking to his leader with respect.

“Right,” Harry said skeptically as they walked up the stairs to the forecastle deck. 

As they stood by the railing of the deck, looking over the sea, Harry noticed the figurehead that stood below the bowstrip: it was a golden woman, standing proudly with the scale of justice balanced in her hand, smiling as she seemed to weigh the amount of justice, the hand that was not holding the scale was wrapped around the front of the boat itself as if protecting the ship by means of the justice in her other hand. 

“Ah yes, that’s our very own figurehead ,” Ron said noticing what Harry was staring at. “She's beautiful isn't she?” Ron smiled fondly, nostalgia crawling up his face, making his features seem softer. 

"Yeah," Harry answered as he let his gaze wander over the horizon, looking at the infinite blue that was the sea, the waves crashing on the ship, as if they were trying to grasp the wooden front of the Amortentia. 

“Weasel! Come here! I know you ruined this, it has your fingerprint of destruction all over it!" Blaise's voice carried over the whole ship, making both Harry and Ron turn in surprise. 

"Yeah sure!" Ron yelled back before turning to Harry. "Is it okay if I leave you here mate? I really have got to go, Blaise will kill me otherwise."

Harry smiled and gave a short nod, to which Ron replied by giving him a grin and leaving the forecastle deck in a hurry. 

Harry stood at the railing of the deck for another hour or so, thinking about nothing in particular, hypnotized by the waves below, until a certain scent broke him out of his trance. 

The air was filled with the smell of tomato and herbs, making Harry's empty stomach rumble, reminding him that he hadn't eaten in a full twenty-four hours.

Harry slowly moved from the edge of the forecastle deck and sniffed the air again, eager to find out where the smell was coming from. He slowly opened the hatch that led away from the forecastle deck to the main deck, then he walked down the stairs and onto the main deck. There were a lot of pirates there, running around and attending to their business, completely ignoring Harry as they went. 

Harry walked towards the opposite side of the ship where the scent grew stronger until he eventually recognised that the smell came from behind a door there. Curiously he opened the door to the unidentified room to a slit, the smell came out of the space in wafts making the sounds of Harry's stomach even louder.

"Come on in," said a voice drenched in a Spanish accent from behind the door. "I can hear your hunger."

Harry stepped into the room with a sheepish look on his face and scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry," he said, embarrassed. 

Harry could see the man who had spoken now: tanned skin, dark glistening eyes and a playful smile on his lips.

"Ah boy, it's no problem, soy Eduardo, the cook here, and you must be Harry," the man said, his smile genuine and never faltering.

Harry smiled and nodded, happy that Eduardo had called him Harry in a normal manner, instead of by his full name in a tone filled with admiration. "What's that smell?" Harry asked after a moment of silence. 

"Oh that, that is my famous tomato soup." Eduardo moved to a large steaming pan and stirred around in it, eventually taking out a spoon of soup. "Here," he said, pointing the spoon at Harry. "have a taste."

Harry did just that as he leaned forward, the thought of tasting random food handed to you by a stranger being somewhat dangerous not even crossing his mind. His senses were overwhelmed as soon as his lips touched the soup, the soft taste of the tomato combined with the sharp taste of the herbs made for an amazing experience on his taste buds. "It's good!" Harry said excitedly as he finished the spoon that Eduardo had given him. 

Eduardo's smile grew wider. "Thought so."

“Here,” Eduardo said, handing Harry a bowl of soup with a friendly grin on his face. “You can eat this outside, just choose any place on the ship you want, well except from the captain’s quarters that is.” 

Harry arched a brow in confusion and Eduardo took notice, his smile growing a bit wider. “You really don’t look like you want a pirate's company right now. If I may be so blunt, you kind of look like _el cadáver de mi madre_.” Eduardo winked. “Just go already.” 

Harry gave a short nod and smiled, then he turned around and walked through the door back onto the main deck. He carried his bowl up onto what Ron had said was the quarterdeck and smiled contently, looking at the sun setting over the sea. On the main deck the pirates were busy talking, discussing their activities of the day as they made their way into the galleys where the food was waiting for them. 

The sun painted the sky in beautiful colours, the soft breeze circling around Harry, making the temperature pleasant even with all the clothes he was wearing. And even though he was stuck on a ship filled to the brim with _pirates_ he couldn’t help but feel content in some strange way.

After Harry had finished his bowl of soup he kept looking at the sky, enjoying the warmth on his face, thoughts swirling around in his mind, creating a storm of emotions: he’d done and felt a lot today, too much for Harry to truly comprehend. 

One thing he _did_ know though: it all happened because of his stupid scars. 

Harry slowly rolled his sleeves up, revealing the purplish scars running up and down on both of his arms, and even though he couldn’t see them he knew that the scars also ran over his back and neck, making him immediately recognisable. They looked as if Harry had been struck by lightning, forks reaching over his skin, forming curious patterns. 

Next to the purplish forks he also had a tiny lightning bolt scar carved into his forehead that was usually hidden by his wild black hair. 

Harry softly let his finger run over the forks on his arm, to anyone else the patterns would look completely random, but Harry recognised every single little line, being able to trace them perfectly without even looking. 

Sometimes he even felt his scars, almost as if they were alive: whenever he used his powers the scars would light up and slightly rise on his skin, and other times when he felt emotions very intensely the scars would slightly glow, creating an almost ethereal shimmer. Lily had always said that that was when he looked the most alive. 

Harry’s content smile turned sad as he thought of Lily Potter, the only person who he’d ever seen as a true mother, how he missed her. 

Harry didn’t like thinking about his past.

That’s why he didn’t like thinking about his scars either. 

Harry folded his sleeves back down, covering the scars again. He turned his stare back to the horizon, but now that he’d started thinking about his past, he couldn’t distract himself from his thoughts anymore. 

“Oh! You’re here!” As Harry turned towards the voice he recognised the tall owner slightly, remembering how Luna had handed him the rope. “I’m Neville by the way,” the boy said. “Ron asked me if I could come get you.”

Harry nodded and rose from his spot slowly, taking the empty soup bowl with him. 

“We’ll drop the bowl off by the galley and then I’ll show you a place you can sleep,” Neville said. 

When they dropped off the soup bowl and bid their goodnight to Eduardo, Eduardo just winked and smiled at Harry before shooing the both of them out of the kitchen with a bunch of rushed Spanish curses. 

Neville took Harry to a room where beds were hammocks up on each other in rows, some were already in use by snoring pirates and other were still empty. He pointed Harry to one of the empty spots. 

“One of the members used to sleep here, but he left the ship and instead decided to stay at…,” Neville started before breaking himself off. “Oh well it doesn’t matter, just know that that bed is free, so you can sleep there.”

Harry gave a short nod, already knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to use the bed very often. 

He _did_ use his new bed that night, though, as exhaustion overpowered his senses, making his eyelids droop. 

\---

The light was way too bright for Harry’s eyes, blinding him as soon as his eyes opened to a slit. 

_He’d been here before._

His back and arms were exposed, only a pair of trousers clinging to his sweaty legs. Harry was sitting crumpled up on the floor, pain angrily flaring in every part of his body. 

Suddenly a shadow moved through the stark light. 

“C’mon show the people how powerful I am, show them your light,” the shadow said, their voice unrecognizable, distorted, but known to Harry’s ears. 

Another shadow moved through the blinding light. 

“The only thing you have to do to relieve the pain is kill that woman,” the first shadow said. 

“I won’t, ever!” Harry said through gritted teeth, groaning as the pain grew by the second. 

The first shadow chuckled. “Oh you will.”

Harry screamed, losing all concept of time in the sense of his desperation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So um I know it's a bit early, but how do you guys like the premise so far? I personally loved planning ahead and thinking what I was going to do with the plot and development, but I'm truly curious as to what you as the reader thinks (since it's a bit of an unusual concept hehe)
> 
> Have a fantastic day/night !
> 
> -Amber


	3. Rays of Sun at Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I suppose that’s logical.” The Captain’s voice was softer than before, and he was still looking at Harry, although his eyes were less intense.
> 
> Harry’s lips lifted upwards the tiniest bit as he kept looking at the sky. “Can’t sleep either?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I, yet again, am back for a bit hehe. Enjoy!

“Hey mate!” A voice broke Harry’s dreams, echoing in his mind, and bouncing against the walls of his consciousness. “It’s time to wake up!”

Harry groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, looking straight into a freckled face.

“I know it’s not ideal to wake up this early, but when you work on a ship, you’ll have to,” Ron said, waiting for Harry to get up. Harry groaned again as he swung his legs over the side of his hammock. 

Ron was fully dressed and as Harry looked around he saw that most other people had left the sleeping quarters already. Ron probably noticed Harry looking around because he scratched the back of his neck and said, “Yeah, we let you sleep in a bit, you seemed to need it.”

“Right,” Harry said as he rubbed his eyes. “Thank you.”

Ron grinned. “Well just put some clothes on and meet me on the main deck, we have loads to do today.” 

Harry quickly changed his clothes and walked out onto the main deck. Ron was not hard to spot, his red hair glowing in the light as he was animatedly talking to Neville. 

“Oi mate! Over here!” Ron yelled as soon as he noticed Harry, waving frantically at him to come over. 

Harry smiled slightly, the fragments of his nightmare threading on the borders of his mind, and walked over to Ron and Neville.

“Okay,” Ron started as soon as Harry arrived. “we need to give you some kind of job here aboard the ship, Captain’s orders.” 

“Yeah,” Neville started “the Captain said, and I quote: ‘He might be supernatural, but he still has to work not to have his arse thrown off.’”

“Great hospitality here,” Harry answered rolling his eyes. 

“If you wanted hospitality, you shouldn’t have come to pirates.” Harry immediately recognised the accent of the voice to be Eduardo’s. And he turned out to be right because Eduardo was standing right behind them. 

“Hey Eduardo,” Ron said. “Have you already met Harry?” 

Eduardo smiled at Harry. “Oh yeah, we met.” He turned back towards Ron, the smile fading from his lips, his features now serious. “I heard your conversation. I could give him a job in the kitchen.”

“You sure?” Neville asked. 

The smiled was back on Eduardo’s lips. “Yes, of course I’m sure, the Queen knows I need help feeding you idiotas every day.” He turned towards Harry, the delighted twinkle of excitement in his eyes. “C’mon Harry we have work to do, the food is waiting.” 

Harry was just about to follow Eduardo to the kitchen when a hand suddenly grabbed his shirt. He turned to the person who the hand belonged to. A girl with short dark hair, piercing blue eyes and pale skin stood before him. “There you are! Why did no one immediately instruct _Harry Potter_ to come to me, the bloody _doctor_ aboard this ship?! He needs inspecting, who knows what diseases he could carry!” she yelled as she started inspecting Harry, lifting his sleeves and nodding at the scars she must’ve seen there. “For the Queen’s sake, do you even eat?” She lifted her face shifting her calculating stare to Harry’s eyes. “Or sleep?”

“Yeah, I think I do… ,” Harry trailed off, not sure how to explain.

“Christ Pansy, leave the man alone, I know you’re the doctor on board, but do you really have to go all ‘health investigator’ on him?” Ron asked, glaring at Pansy. Harry couldn’t help but feel relieved at Ron’s interference, he didn’t know how exactly to explain him being underweight properly, plus his lack of sleep and he didn’t particularly feel like trying. 

“Listen here Weasel--”

“Calm down Pans, he’s going to work with me, I’ll feed him until he drops.” Eduardo winked at her and Pansy just huffed in return, clearly offended by both Ron and Eduardo cutting her off. “Come along now Harry, we’ve got work to do.”

Harry nodded and followed Eduardo to the kitchen, but not before he had been forced into promising Pansy that he would stop by the infirmary later.

Eduardo showed him how to do simple cooking tasks and made him cut and stack the vegetables, before telling Harry to throw them into a large pot. The kitchen was hot: steam coming from the pans, combined with the pressing warmth from outside; the temperature was almost unbearable, sweat beading on Harry’s forehead as he was cutting what seemed like his hundredth batch of vegetables. 

“The rest of the crew will be here soon, so you can serve the food,” Eduardo said. 

Harry nodded and started placing plates on the table, putting the large pan in the middle. The exact moment Harry was done with the plates was when the first people started walking in. 

“Hey Eduardo!” both of the people who had entered, yelled happily. 

“Hi Urium and hi Kiran!”

Barely a second passed before the two pirates who had come in launched into an intricate conversation with Eduardo. After that pirates entered fast: Ron and Neville waved excitedly at Harry; Luna smiled and winked at him; Blaise grinned, his eyes covered in a strange gleam and his teeth shining in the dim light; and last the Captain entered, his squinted eyes searching Harry with intensity. The Captain's glare made him slightly uncomfortable and he had to physically stop himself from sighing in relief when Eduardo yelled for him to come over, breaking Harry out of the trance he had been in. 

Harry didn’t get a chance to touch the food during dinner, running around doing chores, not getting a moment of rest. The pirates around him were laughing but not necessarily at him in particular, just everything and everyone, taking the piss out of each other and even their beloved sea, enjoying the light topics of conversation that flowed seamlessly. Harry even found himself slightly smiling when Ron burned his hand on a piece of chicken, Neville laughing quietly next to him and Blaise rolling his eyes playfully muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'Greedy bastard' under his breath.

Eduardo handed Harry a plate of food when dinner was over. “Here, take this, next time you’ll get the chance to eat with the rest, but for now you can just pick a spot on deck to eat.”

Harry nodded again and took the plate, walking out the door of the kitchen and onto the quarterdeck. The stars were out already, shimmering brightly, an early spring breeze whirled around Harry, making his hair even more messy than it usually was. It couldn’t be later than seven in the evening, yet the night looked as if it was midnight. Calmly Harry finished his food, thinking the past two days over in his head. 

“Hey Potter!” Blaise yelled from the side of the quarterdeck, pulling Harry out of his thoughts. 

Harry turned towards him, not trusting Blaise to make just small talk with him. Blaise wasn’t the small talky sort of person. 

“You might be strong with your lightning and stuff, but are you worth anything without your powers?” Blaise grinned like a shark, teeth white and visible. “Fight me,” he said. 

“Do I have to?” Harry asked, seemingly unimpressed. 

Blaise threw him a sword, and Harry barely caught it in time, the hilt scraping his shoulder. “Yes, don’t use your powers,” Blaise said, the grin still plastered on his face. 

Blaise looked at the way Harry had wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his newfound blade and his smile widened, covering practically half of his face in a toothy grin. 

Harry barely had time to prepare before Blaise suddenly latched out, his lean blade missing Harry’s face by a hair's breadth. When Blaise lashed out again, Harry clumsily held his sword up to his face as his only defense, the harsh clank of metal against metal echoing through the light night air. 

Blaise withdrew his lean blade before he immediately rushed to attack Harry again, Harry barely fended him off, clearly not knowing what he was doing, but trying anyway. He lashed out at Blaise once he withdrew his blade yet again, but unfortunately he fended him off with ease.

"Nice try." Blaise grinned. "Loony! Can you teach Potter to fight?!" He rolled his eyes at Harry's apparent frown. "Listen lightning boy, you might be able to control the merits of storm, but you can't always use it, it's too noticeable. If we're ever attacked while you're…" Blaise paused to make some wild hand gestures at Harry, his blade swinging from his fingertips. " …present, you will need to use sword fighting first before your thunder, we can't have news spreading that you're here."

"Right," Harry said, dryly. 

Luna came walking onto the quarterdeck, two little knives dangling on either sides of her belt paired with a long engraved sword on her back.

Her eyes were alight as she spoke, shining a bright grey. "Of course I can train Em!" 

Luna might've carried a shit ton of swords and knives, but her airy attitude and kind mannerisms didn't allow Harry to make the proper connection between the two seemingly opposite sides of her character.

Blaise smiled, _really_ smiled at Luna, it wasn’t at all like the shark grin he'd given Harry on more than one occasion. "Good thank you," Blaise said before turning back to face Harry, the toothy grin immediately back on his face. "Don't worry Potter, you're going to learn how to fight properly in no-time." And with that Blaise turned and left, leaving Harry with Luna together on the quarterdeck.

"We can start tomorrow?" Luna asked, her voice soft as always.

"Sure," Harry answered. 

Luna smiled. "You should go to the infirmary, Pansy is all excited to meet you." Her eyes twinkled. "Although you may not want to tell her that she's excited, she can get quite angry you see." 

Harry nodded, remembering the promise he'd been forced to make earlier that day, and made his way off the quarterdeck, leaving Luna to gaze at the stars. Once he arrived on the main deck though, he remembered that he had absolutely no clue where the infirmary _was_. There were only two doors on either side of the main deck: one leading to the galleys and one leading to the stairs for both the forecastle deck and down onto the orlop deck, so logically Harry had no idea where exactly to go next. 

Before he could make any more decisions on where to go, he heard a sharp voice speak up behind him. 

“Finally looking for the infirmary huh?” It was Pansy, sounding rather annoyed. Harry began to think that that just came natural for her. 

“Erm, yes? Isn’t that okay?” Harry asked. 

Pansy rolled her eyes. “Come,” she said as she started heading straight for the galleys.

Harry arched one brow, confused as to why she was going there, the kitchen definitely didn’t secretly include the infirmary, that Harry could be sure of. 

Then Pansy did something strange: she stopped right in front of the door that led to the galleys and knocked on the wood next to the doorframe, after she’d done this she took a step back and waited. 

Harry couldn’t believe what he was seeing. 

The wood started folding in on itself, revealing a gap with a big hollow space behind it, the gap was so big that two people could easily fit through at the same time. 

“It’s all mechanics Potter, no need to worry, you’re still the only one with powers here,” Pansy said bitterly, but also with a slight hint of wonder in her voice, as if she couldn’t quite grasp that he was here, but refused to give up her permanently annoyed aura. 

“Come in to my humble workplace Potter,” Pansy continued when she stepped inside, she casually lit a torch hanging on the wall, yet careful to stop the flame from burning the ship down. Harry walked inside, the smell of herbs immediately hitting him. 

So _this_ was the infirmary.

“Why does it do that?” Harry asked as he pointed to the gap in the wooden wall, the same gap they’d just stepped through. 

“Oh, well it’s convenient for a few reasons, while we’re under attack especially: firstly injured patients can rest here while having lesser risk of getting attacked by the opposite party, secondly,” she said as a Blaise-like grin formed on her face. “sometimes we hide here, making it seem like the Amortentia is deserted. Greedy people or even people that had already been wanting to attack us come here expecting an easy cash grab,” she _snickered_. “It’s especially cute when they try to hijack the ship. Anyways we jump out and take their belongings, while killing them as payback for even daring to set foot here.”

Harry frowned, a bit of uncomfortable anger coiling in his belly, Pansy seemed way too indifferent to killing. “That seems unfair, shouldn’t you just face them and fight?!” 

Pansy shrugged. “We’re pirates, we don’t play by the world’s rules of honor. We bend the rules to fit our standards, besides they shouldn’t have tried to invade our ship in the first place.”

Harry felt his frown grow more concerned, thinking back to the other people who he had seen killing so casually. Was this their mindset? Harry didn’t want it. He didn’t want any of it. 

“Right,” Pansy broke Harry out of his thoughts. “shall we get started then?”

Harry didn’t say anything in response, instead he simply waited. 

“Show me the scars please,” Pansy said, her voice professional and stark. 

Harry rolled his sleeve up the tiniest bit, it wasn’t logical for him to feel _this_ insecure about showing his scars, - the people aboard all already knew who he was, it was impossible to miss with the light show he’d given yesterday - but still, he couldn’t help but feel terribly bad about it, sweat beading on his forehead. 

“I need a little bit more than that to do a proper check.” She rolled her eyes, again. Rolling her eyes really did seem to be something she rather enjoyed doing. “It really would be best if you would just take your top off, I promise I won’t jump you.” She spoke the last part of that sentence with extreme exhausted sarcasm, as if to make clear that she would much rather do anything _apart_ from jumping him. 

Harry started taking off his top very reluctantly - insecurity, doubt, fear and anxiety were all gripping at Harry’s heart, making the rest of his emotions squirm - the tight fabric of his shirt hadn’t left his skin in weeks due to his paranoid but mostly accurate fear of him getting chased after by power hungry men and women alike. Harry almost let out a bitter laugh as he was yet again reminded of _why_ exactly he had ended up on this ship in the first place, his sleeve had rolled up revealing him to be ‘the one and only Harry Potter’, that went to show how dangerous Harry’s clothing leaving his skin really was. 

“There you go,” Pansy said rather indifferently once his shirt was tossed on the floor. 

Slowly she shifted her eyes from the shirt on the floor to Harry’s upper body, and as she murmured a soft ‘Save the Queen’ under her breath Harry knew that it wasn’t because he was so incredibly good-looking. 

Harry knew all too well how his arms, front, back and even neck were covered in one big lightning trail. It was as if the lightning had used him as a conductor: gruesome purple forks covering his back, branching out over his shoulders and neck and from the shoulders reaching further down his front and arms. 

The scars would light up whenever Harry used his powers or when he would feel something intensely, and naturally, now that he felt so incredibly anxious, his scars lit up in the faint fleeting way that indicated fear or nervousness. 

Pansy inspected his scars with a glaring intensity. “They seem to be… ” She trailed off trying to think of the right word to use. “ … alive,” she eventually settled on, seemingly confused and in awe at the same time. 

After a while of staring she lifted her gaze up to Harry’s forehead and folded a few of his locks between her fingers, revealing his other lightning themed scar: a bolt carved into his skin, luckily without the purplish colour that his other scars had. 

“Interesting,” she said, before dropping his hair back down, covering the bolt shaped scar and scanning his body once again. “Yes,” she eventually said. “you definitely need to eat and sleep more.”

\--

The loud snoring surrounding Harry wasn’t the reason he couldn’t sleep. 

It was dreams like the one he had had the night before, dreams that bore the knowledge of not being dreams, but memories, popping into his mind to reassure themselves that Harry truly hadn’t forgotten them yet. 

He didn’t want to relive those memories in his sleep, so, his body wouldn’t let him. Not letting the dreams in sadly also meant entirely locking sleep out, and thus resulted in Harry not sleeping at all, sometimes for days even weeks on end until his body couldn’t take a single second more of it and simply collapsed. 

Tonight seemed to be another sleepless night for Harry, or rather, a morning, it had to be around five am already and the sun would soon start to rise. Suddenly convinced that he truly wasn’t going to get a wink of sleep for the rest of the night Harry stood up on impuls, determined to witness the sunrise. Technically the sun would probably not rise for another thirty minutes or so, but still it wasn’t like Harry had anything better to do than watch the sky right now, it wasn’t like he could sleep or something.

Harry softly padded out of the sleeping quarters and left for the quarterdeck, realising only as he stepped onto it that someone was already there: rays of starlight hit the person’s light hair, reflecting it, making the person almost seem as if they had a halo surrounding their head. It was beautiful, but it was also clearly the Captain, making it a slight problem. 

Harry had been determined to see the sunrise and he wasn’t going to back out just because the Captain was here. Luckily, the Captain was standing on the very left of the quarterdeck looking in the direction where the sun was going to rise, meaning that Harry could just stand on the very _right_ side and enough distance would remain between them. 

He softly grabbed the railing and he felt the Captain’s eyes on him for a second before they directed themselves back at the night sky. The sky was clear and stars were lit up, seemingly dancing their way through the night sky, like little lights lighting up the dark, flying high above them in wonder. Harry hadn’t seen stars like this before in his life: he had always lived in cities, hiding in deserted buildings or running under the prominent street lights that blocked out the stars above. To see stars so openly now was a true wonder and it would be a lie to say that he wasn’t in pure awe. 

In fact Harry was in so much awe that he spoke. “The stars truly are beautiful aren’t they?” 

When the Captain’s reply came it was cold. “You get used to it.”

Neither of them had looked at each other for the whole duration of the conversation - if you could even call it that - but Harry didn’t mind this, he wasn’t ready for the Captain’s glaring intensity and he was far too enraptured with the stars to look at him himself. “I don’t think I could ever get used to it, not after living in the city and knowing what you miss out on by not seeing this.” Harry spoke softly as if he would chase the stars away if he spoke too loudly.

For the second time that night he felt the Captain’s eyes on him, but this time they felt different: somehow even more intense as a question seemed to be buried deep within that gaze, inspecting Harry much like Pansy would. 

“I suppose that’s logical.” The Captain’s voice was softer than before, and he was still looking at Harry, although his eyes were less intense.

Harry’s lips lifted upwards the tiniest bit as he kept looking at the sky. “Can’t sleep either?”

Harry knew he had struck a nerve when the Captain eventually replied, his eyes shifting from Harry back to the night sky. “No.” The word was direct, making it clear that this was an out of the question topic for him. 

“I haven’t been able to sleep for a while now, yesterday was the first time I slept in forever,” Harry said, as he let out a soft yawn, knowing that if he would try to go to bed now he would just be stuck with his thoughts all over again.

As Harry looked at the Captain for a second he saw that a frown had formed on his face, creasing his eyebrows. The Captain gave no further reply though, and as their conversation died down the first light of day started showing. 

When the sun started rising it was the most breathtaking thing Harry had ever seen, it was painstakingly slow, but _so_ worth it, as a wide span of colours started flowing over into each other: pink mixing with red, red with orange, orange with yellow, all the while the golden ball of fire emerging from above a multicoloured sea. 

“Wow,” Harry gasped out in wonder, amazed by the sheer beauty.

And from the corner of his eye Harry could see the Captain studying the sunrise as if looking for answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this was one of the longer chapters, mainly meant for setting recurring themes/occasions up ;) Lemme know what you thought !!! 
> 
> Have a fantastic day/night!!  
> -Amber


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Rule number one: never lower your sword before battle is over,” the Captain said, looking way too smug. 
> 
> “You should honor your own rules,” Harry said before quickly whisking his own blade upward, deflecting the Captain’s sword away from his chest, instead Harry now had his sword pointed at the _Captain’s_ chest. “‘Never celebrate your win too early, always be cautious of the other’s position,’ remember?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, welcome back ! Thank you for sticking around :) welcome back to this rollercoaster of a plot heheh  
> Enjoy the chapter !!

“Harry! Get _el pollo_ , quickly! They’re going to be here anytime now!” 

It was another night of Harry working for Eduardo and Eduardo as always was yelling ruthless commands at him. Tonight was the night that Harry was to eat with the rest of the crew and he didn’t know how to feel about that: eating with pirates did not seem like something he’d want to comply with, but then again, everyone on board except for Blaise or the Captain perhaps had been okay to him, not really barbaric in any way, so, he had decided that it couldn’t be any different from any other interactions that he might’ve had with the crew beforehand and to just go along and see where it would bring him. He was stuck on a ship with them anyways.

Harry quickly did what Eduardo had asked of him and set up the last few things on the table, including an extra plate and chair for himself. 

The door of the kitchen opened with a creak, followed up by Ron’s excited voice “Smells good Ed!” Eduardo winked at Ron and Ron turned to Harry. “Oi mate how’s working in the kitchen so far? Hot innit?”

Harry couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh. “Yeah, definitely.”

“He used to work in the kitchen with me,” Eduardo said, giving Ron a push in the side with his elbow. “that is, before he got promoted.”

“Pfft if it would've been up to me.” Blaise’s voice was unmistakable as he too entered the door with Pansy by his side. “he would still work here.”

“But then what would Potter do?” Pansy asked, a cynical glint to her eyes. 

“Well for starters,” another voice came from behind Pansy and Blaise. “he could get you lot out of the doorway.”

Pansy and Blaise moved aside and sat down at the table begrudgingly as Neville stepped into the room. “Hi Eduardo! Hi Harry!”

Luna followed quickly after Neville and by the time she had sat down most of the rest of the crew had already entered the room apart from the ever absent Captain. 

Eduardo had finally allowed Harry to sit down the moment that the Captain _did_ come in. His eyes scanned the room and rested on Harry as the Captain’s eyes narrowed. “So.” the Captain said. “look who finally came to eat with us, the one and only: Harry Potter.” The tone of the Captain had not been admiring in the slightest when he had spoken more sarcastic and cynical, as if he was rolling his eyes on the inside. 

Before Harry could properly retort, Luna spoke up: her voice always soft, barely audible above a whisper, but oh so strangely powerful, demanding all attention, it was eerie really. “Oh, so that’s why you were so nervous today, now I get it!”

The table was completely silent for a second and Harry himself didn’t really know what to make of that statement. He didn’t have much time to think about it though as Eduardo - ever the conversation saver - launched into an intricate session of small talk with Neville next to him. It didn’t take very long for the rest of the table to follow suit, and suddenly Harry was listening to Luna listing reasons to be careful of Tirifules, which apparently were a breed of seahorses that crawl into people's ears to fog up their memories. It was rather enjoyable really: munching on his chicken while listening to Luna’s airy voice talking about what possibly was utter nonsense. It was by far the most interesting dinner he’d ever had. 

“Oh by the way, Captain?!” Ron yelled once dinner was almost over. The captain turned to Ron with one sharp movement. Ron continued, “We need to make a stop on shore soon, the supplies are running low. Again.”

The Captain frowned and for some reason shot a worried look in Harry’s direction. “You should’ve told me earlier.”

Ron opened his mouth to reply, but was quickly shut down by the Captain putting his hand up towards Ron’s face, signaling that he’d heard enough. “Nevermind, I don’t want to hear the excuse, what’s the nearest place we can take harbour? Blaise?”

Blaise seemed to think this over for a second. “Valencia.”

\--

“Your position is good, you just need to move your body in line with your sword, move as if the sword is an extension of your arm.”

Harry swung his sword forward for what seemed like the millionth time, and he wanted to wince when he saw Luna’s expression morph into something slightly sadder. 

“No Em, not like that, please try really imaging it _as_ your arm, pretend like it has been there just as long as your lightning has. I know it’s hard, but please try.”

Harry lowered his sword slightly in frustration, they’d been doing this for so long now. “I _am_ trying, it’s just that nothing seems to work.”

“Here,” Luna said, a soft smile on her face. “copy me.” She started making twists and turns with her sword and Harry tried his best to copy her, but it never quite came out the way she had done it.

After another three hours of practising Luna called it a day and told him to head to bed in that mysterious airy voice of hers. “It really is a matter of _feeling_ Em, being so passionate about something that you want to fight to achieve it, that’s the art behind sword fighting, nothing more nothing less. You’ll learn to grasp that feeling sooner or later, today is just not that day and that’s fine.” Both her smile and voice were completely devoid of judgement, reflecting an utter confidence that Harry _was_ going to understand at some point. With that she turned around and left for the sleeping quarters, the ruffles of her blouse gently waving in the night’s breeze. 

Harry never left the quarterdeck where they’d been practising, instead he sat down on the wooden floor boards and stared at the dark but calm ocean. The stars were out and bright again, endless and shimmering in their beauty as the waves peacefully crashed against the Amortentia. 

He knew that he wouldn’t get a wink of sleep if he were to go to bed now or at any point of the night for that matter, sleep never _had_ and never _would_ come easily to him, of that Harry was convinced.

__He barely noticed the footsteps that walked up to him, only when the shadow of someone standing next to him was looming over him, did Harry recognise the owner._ _

__“So you can’t sleep yet again huh?” Harry asked sarcastically, keeping his eyes trained on the stars._ _

__The Captain didn’t sit down next to Harry, but instead kept his firm posture up, clearly not wanting to let his guard down under any circumstance._ _

__“I could say the same thing to you.”_ _

__“True enough. What’s your reason?”_ _

__“Nothing for you to be concerned with at this particular moment,”_ _

__Harry smiled to himself. “‘At this particular moment’? Does that mean that at some point it _is_ going to be one of my concerns?”_ _

__“Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. Only time will tell.”_ _

__“Or you know,” Harry said, still smiling to himself. “you could just tell me.”_ _

__“I won’t.” The words were direct again, leaving the topic closed._ _

__Silence wrapped itself around them after that, but strangely, even though they were both quiet, the night seemed to go by faster than it ever had before._ _

__\--_ _

__The days flew by in a haze of sword fighting practise that never seemed to go quite right and Harry and the Captain sharing quiet staring sessions with the stars and the ocean._ _

__“Good Em! Your moves are fantastic! It’s just… the _passion to win_ is still missing” Luna frowned. “I can’t help you with finding that, you have to look for it within yourself.”_ _

__Harry sighed: they’d been training for weeks now and this so called ‘feeling’ that Luna was always talking about had not shown up yet. Harry was starting to wonder if it would ever come to him._ _

__“So is he any good yet?” The Captain suddenly stood on the quarterdeck where they had been practising. He was turned towards Luna but it was clearly about Harry._ _

__“Yeah, Em’s great at sword fighting! There’s just something missing.”_ _

__The Captain smirked triumphantly, his eyes covered in a curious glint. “Really now? Let’s see how he does fighting _me_ ” He turned towards Harry, a triumphant smirk already on his face even though he hadn’t won yet. “Scared Potter?” _ _

__Harry grabbed the hilt of his sword tightly, pointing it straight at the captain. “You wish.”_ _

__Harry caught the brief smile on Luna’s face as she soundlessly took a step back, more towards the edge of the deck, away from the middle that they’d used for practise._ _

__Before Harry could properly blink the Captain had already slashed his sword through the air, heading straight for Harry’s arm. He stopped the sword from cutting into his flesh by a hair’s breadth. The clank of metal against metal echoed in the early spring air as something seemed to flare to life in Harry’s beating chest._ _

__He whirled his own blade around and thereby got rid of the Captain’s sword against it, making a cross shape between them. Harry’s whole body was alight with anticipation and if the glint in the Captain’s eyes was anything to go by; he was feeling the same way._ _

__The Captain twirled their blades around in one swift move, seemingly dancing closer to Harry. Harry bent backward: avoiding the Captain’s move, letting the sword fly over his face, barely missing the tip of his nose._ _

__Harry threw his sword forward while the Captain was distracted, pointing it at his chest. He smiled triumphantly, thinking he had won, but before the smile could properly cross his lips, he spotted the shimmer of a sword by his own chest. Both of their blades were pointed at one another’s chest now and even though they were both panting, their eyes were still shining with tension._ _

__“Never celebrate your win too early, always be cautious of the other’s position,” the Captain said before sharply turning and walking away._ _

__Luna took a few steps closer to Harry, leaning in to whisper something into his ear. “Em, I think you’ve finally found your passion.”_ _

__\--_ _

__“You really _do_ need to start eating and sleeping more,” Pansy said with a curved brow: her face looked more inspecting than concerned and Harry had started to wonder if concern was even possible for her. _ _

__He was back in her ‘office’: she had demanded regular visits from him and Pansy was just not someone you could simply refuse, he had learned that the hard way when she had come up to him and he told her he was too busy: she hadn’t quite thrown a fit, but it was close._ _

__At this particular point in time Pansy was circling Harry like an animal inspecting its prey. It was rather threatening really. Pansy and Blaise were very much alike in that aspect._ _

__“Can you call upon the lightning and restrain it?” Pansy suddenly wondered out loud. “I mean like not create a storm or a bolt that would ruin anything in its path, but just a ball of electric power instead? Can you do that?”_ _

__Harry thought about it and realised he’d never tried before: he had only ever used his power to create huge amounts of damage, never to just simply exist. He had never really practised restraining the lightning, because it never seemed necessary._ _

__“I don’t know.”_ _

__“Interesting. You should try it sometime.” A beat of complete silence followed her statement. “You know, when you use your power you look- I can’t really pinpoint it, you look _alive_ , you shine unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s really interesting.” Pansy lifted her piercing blue eyes up to his. “Did anyone ever tell you that?”_ _

__Harry immediately thought of Lily Potter, who had looked so different from Pansy, more gentle, less piercing or inspecting, more genuinely excited curiosity. “Yes. Yes, someone did tell me that before.”_ _

__He could catch the faint glimpse of Pansy’s eyes lighting up in curious surprise before turning away from her. He couldn’t stand the feelings of missing Lily in that moment: it was too much._ _

__“Can I go now?”_ _

__\--_ _

__That night: Harry trained on the forecastle deck, sweat beading his forehead as he finally understood what Luna had meant. Somehow, someway he felt something now, his sword moving in time with his own body and he couldn’t get enough of the rush, the pure adrenaline pumping through his veins in fight. As he moved he spotted a shadow moving below on the main deck._ _

__It was the Captain._ _

__The Captain went to stand on the quarterdeck, looking at the night sky as Harry had done so many time before, he didn’t seem to see Harry on the forecastle deck._ _

__The passion in Harry’s chest flared again as he was reminded of the Captain’s words earlier that day ‘ _Scared Potter?_ ’ and with renewed intensity, Harry continued practising, as if fighting the Captain himself. _ _

__“You’re certainly going somewhere with those moves.” A sarcastic tone and the clash of a blade against another one. The Captain was calmly standing before him, having soundlessly moved from the quarterdeck to the forecastle deck without Harry noticing. Harry could see the faint shimmer of something akin to wonder in the Captain’s eyes, the stars reflecting brightly in the deep grey. It looked as if the Captain was seeing Harry in a new light yet again. Harry couldn’t decide whether that was for better or for worse._ _

__He lowered his sword, breathing heavily, glaring at the Captain with a vengeance._ _

__As soon as Harry’s sword lowered, the Captain’s blade shot forward, stopping mere millimeters from Harry’s chest._ _

__“Rule number one: never lower your sword before battle is over,” the Captain said, looking way too smug._ _

__“You should honor your own rules,” Harry said before quickly whisking his own blade upward, deflecting the Captain’s sword away from his chest, instead Harry now had his sword pointed at the _Captain’s_ chest. “‘Never celebrate your win too early, always be cautious of the other’s position,’ remember?” _ _

__The Captain’s lips turned slightly upward, the glint of _something_ in his grey eyes. “Good.” Next the Captain extended his sword and rotated half a circle around himself, it was completely fluid. It was so elegant that Harry barely noticed that the Captain had moved away from him. Away from the reach of Harry’s sword. _ _

__The Captain smiled to himself. “Third rule: never let your opponent distract you. That’s clearly one your having issues with.”_ _

__Harry gritted his teeth and stormed forward, the passion again flaring to life in his chest. The Captain stepped aside, avoiding Harry’s attack with ease. Harry barely managed to stop himself from crashing into the forecastle mast and couldn’t help but let out a grunt as he screeched to halt._ _

__“Rule number four: never attack brashly, always think out your tactics beforehand. ” This time Harry didn’t even need to look at the Captain to know that he was smirking, he could _hear_ the smirk in his voice. _ _

__“You know,” the Captain said, taunting. “I expected more from you: the great Harry Potter.”_ _

__Harry _knew_ that the Captain was riling him up on purpose, yet he couldn’t help but rise to the taunt. “It’s not my responsibility what your expectations were.”_ _

__The Captain smiled a knowing smile. “Would you look at that! Potter can also be wise!”_ _

__Harry huffed with little heat. The rush of battle had passed. “Prat.”_ _

__The Captain leaned in a bit closer. “What was that?”_ _

__“You heard me.”_ _

__The Captain clicked his tongue. “Technically I could throw you off this ship for saying that.”_ _

__“But you won’t.”_ _

__They both knew that was true, yet the Captain still arched a brow. “Now won’t I?”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as always, what did you think? I just finished planning the entire plot, so that probably means I'm going to continue writing this?? It's really strange because mentally I'm already at the end of the story but I still have to write practically all the JUICY stuff (because trust me: there WILL be juicy stuff).
> 
> Anyways, you've probably had enough of my rambling, I hope you have an amazing day/night and I'll see you next time :))  
> -Amber


	5. Disaster is All that's Left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A breath, a burning city, one man slowly arose from the flames: the skin on his face was pale and his nose seemed to have burned off, leaving only two gaping holes in his face to breath through. 
> 
> Far away a scream could be heard, it was a voice that Harry recognised vaguely, but not enough to name it. The tone was desperate, yet even though Harry had heard plenty of desperate, devastated tones he hadn’t heard one quite like this before. The voice screamed a name. A name that seemed to be so familiar to Harry that the edges of his mind were trying to grasp it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This is a bit of a longer chapter for y'all hehe :)  
> Enjoy!

_Harry Potter_

Harry knew nothing.

A breath, a burning city, one man slowly arose from the flames: the skin on his face was pale and his nose seemed to have burned off, leaving only two gaping holes in his face to breath through. 

Far away a scream could be heard, it was a voice that Harry recognised vaguely, but not enough to name it. The tone was desperate, yet even though Harry had heard plenty of desperate, devastated tones he hadn’t heard one quite like this before. The voice screamed a name. A name that seemed to be so familiar to Harry that the edges of his mind were trying to grasp it. 

The man that had emerged from the fire suddenly spoke, distracting Harry from the scream. “So, it seems that you are here. Finally.”

Harry squinted, trying to properly look at the man without being blinded by the fire behind him. “Who are you?!”

“Why would I tell on myself? That would take the mystery out of it. After all I _am_ a mystery to everyone and so are you.”

Harry remembered something. “I’m not a mystery! Everyone knows who I am!”

The man took a step backwards, into the flames that were trying to devour him. “Is that so? Then indulge me, what’s your name?”

Harry opened his mouth, but his mind was empty: no letters or words forming in his head and the more he tried to think of his name the emptier his head seemed to get. 

Until suddenly he remembered again: “I am Harry Potter.”

The man’s smile grew. It was twisted. “You’ve made this name your own to such a degree that even here, where I’m in control, the _one_ name you’ve managed to remember is the wrong one.”

Harry was confused, that was his name wasn’t it? He had been called plenty of names before but this was his _true_ name, right? Right? 

The man snickered as he took another step backward. “I believe we will meet very soon, Harry _Potter_.”

And as the man set his final step back into the flames, letting the fire swallow him whole, an entirely different fire enveloped Harry. 

The sunlight. 

Harry’s eyes flew open as his thoughts seemed to return. The brightness of the sunrise was _nothing_ compared to the flames in his dream. His breaths seemed to come and go way too fast as he could feel the hysteria building up in his body. 

He felt bewildered and his eyes scanned his surroundings in a panicked frenzy. 

Until…

He spotted the Captain: grey eyes, sunkissed hair, arched brows and an expression that was strangely close to concern.

“You-I-I heard- ,” Harry panted out, his voice so raw that he couldn’t quite seem to grasp it.

“Calm down.” The Captain took a small tentative step closer, maybe without even realising it properly. “It was a dream.”

Harry forced his breathing to slow down, taking long breaths and letting them out again, just like Lily had taught him. Slowly something else began to dawn on him. 

“I slept?” Harry asked, genuinely confused. He hadn’t slept in ages, especially not in times like these, times when he wasn’t extremely exhausted. 

“Bloody well looked like it,” The Captain answered, but even though it was clear that the remark was meant to be slightly cutting, his tone was too soft. 

“Wow,” Harry muttered, his voice still raw. 

“Such wise words, yet again, spoken by the great Harry Potter.”

“Oh piss off.”

\--

Neville’s excited yell sounded from above, the sound of his voice so strong that it was even heard in the galley. “Land in sight! Land in sight!”

Eduardo dropped his wooden spoon into the pot of soup. “Finally! _Suministros frescos._! About time!” He turned to Harry, completely not bothering with the spoon that was still drifting in the soup. “Common now Harry, this is your first ‘land in sight’ moment, you’ve got to experience it in full!”

Before he could properly register it, Eduardo had already dragged him out of the galley onto the ship’s main deck. Surprisingly about half of the crew were gathered there intently staring at the ocean. Blaise, the Captain and Luna were all on the sterncastle deck where Blaise was steering, the Captain was talking to him in a rushed manner, while Luna stood there almost ominously staring at the horizon.

“What do you reckon they’re talking about?” Ron asked, suddenly next to him and whispering in his ear. 

“I don’t know,” Harry said, curious. 

Before they could think about it for much longer, someone yelled a loud, “Look!” And it was immediately clear what the person who had yelled had meant, because far below the horizon, in the distance, a large patch of land was to be seen. For now all that they could really see was a kind of blurred yellow spread of land but it was enough to send the crew into complete excitement and as Harry looked up he saw how Neville was changing the black pirate flag to that of a normal merchant’s ship. 

This was when Harry was reminded of the deal he’d made with Blaise: he would leave the ship today, and exchange the seas for the land once again. Somehow something that he’d been so sure of just two weeks ago now seemed a bit hollow. The people of the Amortentia had treated him almost like an equal, not like someone that needed to be chased down or trapped and that was strange to say the least, yet, he knew that he wasn’t and never would be a _pirate_. He couldn’t stand the stealing and killing that pirates were notorious for and even though Harry hadn’t seen them doing any of those things, he still knew to be wary. Besides, Harry thought as he remembered Lily’s death, he couldn’t have these people undergo the same curse that everyone else that he had ever been around had been forced to suffer. He couldn’t drag them along in the game of cat and mouse that everyone seemed to want to play with him.

This would be when he would take his leave. 

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Eduardo asked from his left side. “Your first time experiencing the land in sight moment is always the best.”

The first and last time. 

“Pfft Ed, don’t be so sentimental, land in sight will always be great, I promise you that Harry,” Ron said rolling his eyes.

It was almost as if the pirates themselves had accepted Harry to be part of the crew already, seemingly not even remembering that Harry had made a deal with Blaise to get off at the next harbour, coincidentally the harbour of Valencia.

The land was slowly getting closer and by the time Neville had fully descended from the crow’s nest they could already make out the buildings that were positioned near the coastline. As they started gaining in on the city the cheers of the crew started growing louder next to Harry. The excitement to set foot back on land was so apparent that Harry could practically taste it. 

“Ah,” Eduardo said. “Valencia, one of the most beautiful cities of the glowing country we call España. I wish we had more Spanish people on board, but no, instead I’m stuck with you English idiotas.” 

“Ouch Eduardo! English idiotas?! That really hurt,” Pansy said, walking by with faux hurt written all over her face.

“Would you rather have me use my _real_ cuss words then?” 

Ron put on a playful look. “No,” he said as he put the back of his hand in front of his forehead as a fake dramatic gesture of distress. “Please don’t, not the _real_ cuss words!”

What followed was Eduardo chasing Ron and Pansy all over the main deck while cursing them in Spanish. It was rather a spectacle really, and Harry couldn’t help but smile to himself. 

“I heard you are going to leave us in Valencia,” Neville said, coming to stand next to Harry, both of them were now looking at Eduardo chasing Pansy and Ron, but thinking about something entirely different.

“Yeah,” Harry muttered, a slight sense of regret overtaking him. 

Neville frowned in some form of concern, it only wasn’t clear who this concern was directed at. Himself? Harry? The crew? Harry couldn’t tell. 

“Listen Harry,” he started. “If you ever need our help or if you, um, just want to come back, we’ll be there. We would love to have you on our ship.”

“Will do… only… how would I contact you?”

“Oh that’s easy just--,” Neville turned around for a second as if to go look for something only to turn back again. “Bullocks, we don’t have the owls on board right now.” Neville rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Well, um, actually I have no idea then, usually we have the owls for communication but at the moment we don’t seem to have them.”

Harry smiled almost bitterly. “It’s fine Neville, maybe we’ll see eachother again, maybe we won’t, only time will tell.” It felt wrong to finish his time on the ship with such an open ending, but there really was no other way. 

“Yeah, I guess, still feels a bit weird though, doesn’t it? You leaving in such uncertainty?”

“Mhm,” Harry hummed in agreement. “It does.”

It was only when they could smell the fish being sold on the shore of Valencia that the cheers of the crew dimmed down, getting serious again, as they started the long process of anchoring. 

Only Neville, Pansy, Eduardo and Harry were left standing near the railing of the ship, they didn’t have jobs on the ship that required them to do anything right now thus they watched the people on shore yell at one another. None of them were particularly thinking of the people of Valencia, though, as they all seemed immersed in their own thoughts.

Once Ron had unfolded the gangway, ready for the pirates to get onto land, Harry heard Luna call out for Harry. She came running for him, bolting past everyone in a hurry. 

Before Harry knew it he was enveloped in Luna’s sage-y scent, her arms embracing him tightly. “I’ll miss you Em. ” 

When she let go, the first thing Harry saw was Blaise’s grinning face. “I think you’re going to see us sooner than you think, personally, I’m rather looking forward to it.”

Next to Blaise the Captain stood who first shared a knowing glance with Luna and then gave Harry a short nod. Ron gave Harry a short hug, Neville simply smiled and waved goodbye, Pansy nodded at him just like Draco had done and Eduardo, seemingly on impulse wrapped him in an even longer hug than Luna had. 

“Goodbye my boy, we’re letting you go,” he said while hugging Harry with all of his force.

“Ehm Ed? I think you’re crushing him,” Ron said, softly, softer than Harry had ever heard him before. 

Eduardo quickly let Harry go while shoving a packet of food and some coins into his hands. Harry smiled softly at him as a sign of thanks. 

The rest of the crew, even the people he didn’t know that well, waved at him with some form of remorse on their faces. Harry couldn’t exactly pinpoint it but it almost was as if the crew had hoped for _more_ from him, somehow. It seemed slightly out of place for this many people to feel remorse over him taking his leave, but Harry brushed it off, it wasn’t important anymore.

Harry walked over the edge of the ship and as he stepped onto the gangway, he had the foreboding feeling that Blaise might’ve just been right, maybe they _would_ meet again rather soon. Harry didn’t know and at this moment it didn’t matter. Quickly, Harry left the Amortentia behind, walking into the city of Valencia on his own. 

The city unfolded around him as he heard Spanish being yelled from his left and right. The streets covered in an orange hue as he tried to find his way to the center. 

Harry walked among the buildings, he made sure that his sleeves covered his scars before he left the ship, he couldn’t have the cycle of someone seeing his true self repeating again. It would be too dangerous. Harry kept mostly to the busiest streets, going into narrow deserted alleyways was a recipe for disaster, especially if you were him and a simple shove of his sleeve could cause him to be in grave danger. 

What he didn’t notice though, was that even though the streets might be busy, some people on the streets could often be seen staring at Harry, and with every street that he went into, there were more people on his trail, following him, almost seamlessly. 

When he _did_ notice, it was already too late. The people were circling him, taking in more and more space beside Harry. Making him feel trapped, which ultimately, he was. 

Just when Harry wanted to pull out his sword he was grabbed by the shoulders by one of the people and dragged away into one of the alleys. The people’s robes were black as they all wore strange masks, each of them covered in an eerie gleam of white. The person that had grabbed him by the shoulders was now holding Harry’s sword and turning it around in his hands. 

“We’ve been waiting for you,” one of the people said. 

“Oh yes, he’ll be happy to see you,” the person with Harry’s sword said. 

“Who will be happy to-” Harry couldn’t even finish his sentence or his scar started _burning_ , his head was seemingly trying to split into two. Harry couldn’t help but crawl up into himself. What was happening? And why was it all happening so quickly after one another?

“He’s making it hurt isn’t he?”

Harry didn’t have time to answer as another voice suddenly joined the conversation, the voice was all too recognisable to his ears, even though he’d only ever heard it once before. _Hello Harry, I told you we would meet again._

It was the man from his dream. 

“But you aren’t here, you’re just in my head, hardly counts as m-meeting,” Harry gritted out, the pain threatening to take over completely. As confused as he was, Harry did realise that the man hadn’t been here. Right?

 _Oh but I am._ The pain in Harry’s scar got worse as the voice in his head deepened, getting more twisted. _Take a look around._

Harry opened his eyes and screamed: there were flames everywhere, while the people in black robes were nowhere to be seen. Slowly, a man, _the_ man - Harry realised - started emerging from the flames, wearing the same grin he had in the dream. 

Until…

The clash of metal suddenly rang through the air. 

The illusion broke into pieces. 

The excruciating pain in Harry’s scar morphed into a dull ache when he saw the Captain standing at the end of the alleyway, fighting with the people in black robes. 

“You leave the ship for what? Half an hour? Less? And you’re almost dead already?!” The Captain yelled in frustration as he easily beat the people in black robes. “How is that even possible?”

Harry slowly stood up, not finding the power within himself to reply: his head was spinning, and his mind felt foggy. He didn’t understand what had happened, at all. Who was that man that kept showing up in his head? 

The Captain huffed as he beat the last black robed man to the ground. “You can’t be serious.” 

Blood was gushing from the black robed man’s mouth as he slowly seemed to open it to talk. He directed himself at Harry, not paying any attention to the Captain’s sword hovering above him. “Don’t believe for a second that you’re safe, he will come back, stronger than anyone you’ve ever fought before.”

The Captain gritted out a curse, his eyes were intense, shifting between Harry and the dying man on the ground. “Shit, he knows.”

Harry couldn’t bring himself to consider the Captain’s statement properly because his mind started clearing up and with it: his panic started rising, coiling around in his stomach as he was reminded of everything he’d been through. Harry’s breathing started speeding up and wearing thin at the sheer thought of having to redo everything he’d already been forced to do. The scars on his skin rose, presumably lighting up beneath his clothes. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, fuck.” Harry let out a string of curses as a tear rolled down his cheek. “Not again-I can’t-Not again-” The devastating feelings of panic were so strong that the couldn’t do anything apart from mutter out words and let the tears streak his cheeks. 

“The man-The dream-Not again-I c-can’t-I don’t know-I don’t-” 

Suddenly there were hands on his shoulders and a hand pressed over his mouth, abruptly stopping Harry’s ragged breathing completely. Grey eyes were piercing his, never looking away, the Captain’s woody musky scent all around him. “Calm down.” The pale hand on his mouth was forcing Harry to slow down his breathing. 

“Is it okay if I take you back to the ship?” The Captain asked, gentler than Harry had ever heard from him before. “I promise it’s safer there.”

Harry gathered all his power together to nod and the Captain carefully removed his hand from Harry’s mouth. 

“Okay,” The Captain said softly, both in character and tone. “C’mon.” He lifted Harry by the shoulder, wrapping Harry’s arm around his neck to keep him up. Harry’s feet seemed to refuse to function: he was completely numb, as if his body didn’t belong to him. As a result the captain basically had to drag Harry through the streets, back to the harbour. 

And as Harry looked down at the paved road with each stone that passed his eyesight seemed to grow darker, until eventually: the darkness was all that was left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading ! I have exams this week and a part of next week so I might not be able to post as much as I usually would, next to that my betas are having issues planning, so it might take a bit longer to upload, but I _will_ try to be back as soon as possible! I hope you've been enjoying the story uptill now because trust me it's only gonna get juicier from here ;) (at least I hope you'll like what I'm working on as much as I like working on it)  
> Anyways, I'll see you all next time and until then I hope you have an amazing day/night !  
> -Amber


	6. Golden Borders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What you experienced,” a voice said, the crew splitting like the red sea to let the person who had spoken through. “was very much a near death experience.” Harry had expected that it had been the Captain speaking, but instead it was Blaise, his voice serious and dangerous in a way that Harry hadn’t heard from him before. “And contrary to popular belief: we _need_ you to live.” Blaise kept walking forward, as if _he_ was the Captain and only stopped when Harry and he were mere centimeters apart. “Come,” Blaise said. “I believe it’s time you and the Captain have a _talk_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry, posting took a bit longer than expected hehe, but I'm back and I'm going to post normally from now on yet again :) Enjoy!!

The world slowly gained its colour yet again as Harry spotted two piercing blue eyes looming over him. 

He sat up sharply, his senses suddenly alight and his breathing fast. 

“Christ Potter, calm down. You almost knocked me off my feet,” Pansy said, stumbling backward with Harry’s sudden movement. 

“There was a man-” Harry looked around frantically as if looking for the man on fire. This was when he spotted his surroundings. “I’m here?” 

Pansy was frowning. “You don’t remember? Draco brought you here. He was all panicked, said you were attacked by-” She cut herself off, seemingly slightly struck.

Harry felt his eyes widen. “By who? You know who attacked me?”

“I suggest you talk to Draco about this,” she answered, her voice cold.

Harry felt rage flare within him. “Why do I have to ask the Captain? Why can’t _you_ just tell me?”

Pansy gave him a look that would’ve launched a shiver over Harry’s spine if it wasn’t for how distraught he was. 

“Potter listen, this really isn’t my story to tell, and even if it’s true that I could, that doesn’t mean that I should. Please talk to Draco about this matter.”

Before Harry could reply, Neville suddenly bust through the invisible door that led to Pansy’s office, his hair alight with the sunlight behind him. 

“Harry! You’re awake! The Captain will be so excited to hear this!” Neville’s voice was filled to the brim with utter excitement. 

Harry frowned, not quite understanding why the _Captain_ would be so excited about him waking up. Instead of asking about that, Harry asked something else, though, something that seemed more pressing. “How long have I been out?”

Harry had asked Neville the question but Pansy answered for him, her voice cold. “Four days.” 

Harry gulped and looked between Neville and Pansy panicked. “Four days?! Are you sure?” It seemed unnatural for someone to be knocked out for four days, especially if, physically - like with Harry - there was nothing wrong.

Yet, Pansy didn’t seem the slightest bit surprised as she huffed. “Positive. I should know, I’m the person who has had to tend to you.”

“But you don’t anymore,” Neville said excitedly. “Come Harry, I’m sure everyone will be happy to finally see you again.” He grabbed Harry’s wrist and pulled him off the doctor’s bed and in the direction of the door. 

“Come back if you need anything,” Pansy called from behind, not bothering to follow them. “And do stop by later, I still need to take your temperature.”

Neville had already closed the door behind them and was rambling about where they’d be going next, seemingly in such a good mood that Harry didn’t have the heart to stop him. “We’ll be arriving at Robards soon, so you woke up just in time. Robards has this-” 

“Harry! Mate!” Ron came running towards them, breaking Neville off in the middle of his sentence. “Welcome back to the world of the living I should say!”

It was only seconds after Ron had spoken that he felt a pair of pale arms wrap around him. “Em! We were so worried! You should’ve _seen_ Draco he was-”

Luna’s voice was overshadowed by a louder, more impactful one. It was Eduardo. “Harry! You leave us for half an hour and you almost die, definitely seems like something all of us could pull off.”

“I didn’t almost die,” Harry said, his voice quiet. It was true: he didn’t almost die: he had had a few vivid hallucinations, a slight panic attack and then he had fainted into the Captain’s arms. Nothing too close to death, unless you counted the people who had dragged him into the narrow alley, but they didn’t seem to want to kill him, they had wanted to kidnap him, just like so many others. 

The whole crew had gone ominously quiet now, Luna slowly retracting her arms from Harry. The pirates shot each other a few _looks_ like they knew something he didn’t. 

“What you experienced,” a voice said, the crew splitting like the red sea to let the person who had spoken through. “was very much a near death experience.” Harry had expected that it had been the Captain speaking, but instead it was Blaise, his voice serious and dangerous in a way that Harry hadn’t heard from him before. “And contrary to popular belief: we _need_ you to live.” Blaise kept walking forward, as if _he_ was the Captain and only stopped when Harry and he were mere centimeters apart. “Come,” Blaise said. “I believe it’s time you and the Captain have a _talk_.”

Blaise turned around and walked back through the crowd, clearly expecting Harry to follow, which, since he was rather interested in answers himself, he did. 

They stopped at a small wooden door, a door that Harry had walked past before, but never had paid much head to. The door had a square of orange stained glass above, letting Harry see the mere shadows of what was lurking behind. 

Blaise's serious demeanour had disappeared, now replaced by one of his signature toothy smirks. "I'm afraid you're on your own from here on out, just knock on the door and he'll probably let you in, I think."

Before Harry could tell him that that wasn't reassuring in the slightest, Blaise had already turned and left, walking decidedly towards the helm of the Amortentia. 

Harry didn't know if the Captain would tell him everything that he wanted to know, but everyone on the ship had alluded to the Captain knowing more about Harry's encounter with the man on fire.

Harry loosely clenched his fist and knocked decisively on the wooden door. 

Immediately a grumbling noise came from behind the door, the voice unmistakably the Captain's. "Blaise I swear to--" The Captain's words trailed off as he saw Harry standing there, his eyes growing wider. "You're awake." The statement sounded like a breath, the volume barely above a whisper.

"Yes, Pansy said I had to talk to you about… everything."

The Captain opened the door a bit wider. "Right, come in I suppose."

Harry nodded and followed the Captain inside his quarters, shutting the door behind him with a distinctive click.

Inside it smelled of musk and wood, not at all damp like you'd expect from an enclosed space at sea. Currently they were walking in a narrow corridor - if you could even call it that - passing two doors before they headed into the third one. Behind the third door there was an office space: there was a big desk at the end of the room, a map sprawled out over the table, on the walls there were other maps all with different designs, next to that, there were also various tools that Harry didn't recognise, but looked like navigation equipment on the hard wooden desk. 

The Captain got straight to the point. "Did you see a man in your mind when the men in black robes attacked you?"

The man on fire immediately came to mind. "Yes."

"Do you remember what he looked like? Talked like?"

Harry didn't need to try hard to remember. "He was pale and had a strange lack of a proper nose. As for how he talked: his voice was gravelly but weirdly smooth at the same time, whenever he spoke it was always in mysteries, as if he was asking me, daring me, to solve his riddles." Harry paused, looking at the Captain's frown. "It wasn't just a dream then?"

"Afraid not, that was Riddle you saw."

Harry took a step closer to the Captain. "Riddle?"

The Captain's eyes seemed to pierce Harry's with all the intensity that they harboured. "Yes, he's… a criminal, to put it lightly. It surprises me that you don't know about him yet." He paused looking away from Harry for a second before continuing. "You're not the only person in the world with powers you know?"

Harry's felt his eyes widen: he never really stopped to think if there were others like him, he had just always _assumed_ that he was the only one. "There are others? Others like me?"

"Only one other as far as we know and that's Riddle." The Captain's face scrunched up in disgust. "He likes to show it off too, doing things that others can't." His voice was lower when he spoke the next sentence, his eyes softer in intensity as well: "He does the exact things that you don't and never would. He kills. Just because he can."

"He uses the lightning to kill?" Harry asked, affronted: he had never met any storm that was eager to kill, ever, and he couldn't quite imagine the lightning willingly killing someone. With Harry knowing what destruction the lightning could bring, not only to others but himself as well anger flared within him, combining with the shock of finding out there was someone like him

"What? No, he doesn't control the lightning, in fact, you have already fallen victim to his powers previously."

"Then what are his powers?" Harry asked as he went over every instance in which he had met this Riddle character before, all of them having been dreams and illusions. 

"Mind control," Draco said resolutely. 

The pieces suddenly seemed to fall into place. 

It made a strange kind of sense: the way Riddle had apparently crept into his mind before, creating the almost _too_ real illusions. The way the fire had always circled around him in the dreams ominously: threatening and intimidating, too much of a threat to be real. 

Suddenly the fire inside of Harry flared again, almost swallowing him whole in his anger.   
“He crept into my mind?!” The anger seemed to leak out of Harry’s voice. “He used me?!”

The Captain took a step closer, his hand twitching: as if wanting to reach out but not quite knowing how. “Yes,” he eventually said, in a soft voice. “He always tries to find your weakest spot: he _wants_ you to be scared.”

“Why me?! How did he find me?!”

The Captain shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Harry stayed silent, his anger boiling inside; coiling in tight knots. 

The Captain spoke up thoughtfully, a hint of doubt to his voice. “I need to show you something.” He walked to the big desk at the back of the room. Harry followed him slowly; the anger still too present for him to properly focus on what the Captain had said. 

“Look at my desk,” the Captain said, the inclination of a command in his voice. “What do you see?”

Harry’s anger slightly subdued as he looked at the desk, instead confusion taking over. “I see a desk?”

The Captain rolled his eyes. “Of course you see a desk Potter, but what is _on_ the desk?”

“A map,” Harry answered simply.

“Do I really have to spell everything out for you? Yes Potter, it _is_ a map, but what’s _on_ the bloody map?”

Harry wanted to angrily spit out ‘countries’ but before he could, he registered that there was something profoundly _off_ about the map: there was a golden line woven across it, the end of the line seemed to be fading while the new beginning was bright and clear, sticking out proudly against the sand coloured background. The line seemed to be _moving_ , flowing over the map slowly, like a snake making its way across various countries and seas. 

“A golden line… ,” Harry murmured, mesmerised by the way the line moved. 

“There you go,” the Captain said. “you actually _do_ see some things.”

Harry didn’t bother taking his eyes off the map to come up with a witty reply, instead his eyes seemed to be glued to the thing, one question moving to the forefront of his mind. “What is it?”

“Riddle,” the Captain said bitterly.

Harry’s head shot up in surprise, looking at the Captain wide-eyed, the mesmerised trance he had been in now broken. “What?” 

“Wise man Potter coming up with yet another clever reply I see,” the Captain said. “You heard me.”

Harry looked back at the map, this time analysing, instead of in awe. “Is it a tracking method then?”

“Yes,” the Captain said curtly. 

Harry arched his eyebrows in confusion. “Why track him? What’s the use?”

The Captain was quiet for a second, as if hesitating. “He-”

“Land in sight!” Neville voice cut the Captain off harshly. 

The Captains face visibly _closed_ : all consideration gone, replaced by a cold stare, the distant look was a look Harry knew all too well on the Captain’s face. Harry hadn’t even realised that the hard look had been off his face for a while now until it was suddenly back up.

“We have to go,” the Captain said. Harry suddenly wanted the cold on the Captain’s face to disappear. 

“Neville can wait,” Harry resolutely said, taking a step closer to the Captain.

The Captain in turn took a step back, closer to the door. “No I’m afraid he can’t; don’t you want to experience your second time seeing land from the ship? I bet _Weasel_ will have a lot to say about it.”

“Draco… ”

The Captain’s face froze at the use of his first name and he slowly leveled a stare at Harry. His eyes were so full of disdain that it was obvious that Harry had made a mistake. “No.” And with that the Captain left the cabin, leaving Harry to stare at the door to wonder about what had just happened. 

\--

Harry had, in a haze, moved to the main deck and immediately spotted Luna and Ron talking: he couldn’t quite help but think of the Captain spitting Ron’s nickname out as if it was a foul curse and yet again Harry wondered exactly _why_ he had done it. The Captain wasn’t anywhere to be seen not even on the sterncastle deck where Blaise was steering. 

“Harry! Mate!” Ron called out from where he was standing. Harry grinned at him and walked over, trying to push all unease about the Captain aside. 

“What did the Captain tell you?” Ron asked, his eyes glistening. 

Harry felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him as he recalled the events that happened earlier, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He told me about Riddle and the map on his desk.” 

Ron nodded. “Sorry that we couldn’t tell you ourselves mate, it really was the Captain’s story to tell. It must be quite a shock to have that Riddle bastard suddenly in your bloody mind.”

“It was, and to know that it wasn’t all just dreams, to know that it was real… to know that _he_ was there… ,” Harry wandered off, the sentence he had started, fading away. 

“Yeah I get it, Riddle-”

“Did Draco say anything else?” Luna cut Ron off. 

“No, I think he was about to maybe, about why he was tracking Riddle, but Neville cut him off.”

Luna nodded and diverted her glare to look back at the sea, she looked even more distracted than usual; her brows arched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, originally it was meant to be much _much_ longer but that would mean that it was too much hehe (it would've become like 5k words if not more). Anyways thank you for reading and I'll catch ya next time ;)  
> Have a great day/night!  
> -Amber


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